Process of and apparatus for electroplating the hulls oj vessels



(No Model.)

A. D. BUCHANAN. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS r011 ELBGTROPLATING THE BULLSOI VESSELS.

No. 469,538. Patented Feb. 23, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE;

ALEXANDER D. BUCHANAN, or LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTROPLATING THE HULL-S Qf VESSELS.

SPECIFIGATJI ON forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,538, datedFebruary 23,1892.

' 7 Application filed February 20, 1891. Serial No. 882,167- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that I, ALEXANDER D. BUCH- ANAN, of Long Island City, inthe county of Queens and Stateof New'York,haveinvented a new andImproved Process of and Apparatus for Electroplating the Hulls ofVessels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact w Myinvention relates to improvements in a process of and apparatus forelectroplating the hulls of vessels; and theobject of my invention is toprovide a simple means of making a metallic deposition on the hulls ofvessels, so'that they may be enabled'to resist the corrosive actionofthe water.

" To this end my'invention consists in a pro- K cess and apparatus whichwill be hereinafter fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to behad to the accompanying drawings, forminga part ofthis specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the figures.

Figure 1 is'a'vertical cross-section of a; vessel placed in a dock andheld in .an envelope embodying a part of my invention. Fig. 2 1s thesame View, but with the anodes in position between the envelope and hullof the vessel. Fig. 3 is a broken enlarged detail view of the anodes,and Fig. 4 is a broken enlarged detail section of the envelope.

The vessel to be plated is sailed intoa lower look similar to the lockof a canal, and is then placed in an upper lock or dock, so that thebottom of the vessel will be at about highwater markand where the vesselis tobe incased, in an envelope A, which envelope is heldito the bottomof the dock B by means of a timber 0, which extends longitudinallythrough the envelope and. which is firmly fastened to the dock-bottom,the timber being suitably insulated so as to prevent grounding of thecircuit. The envelope may be also held to the dock-bottom by any othersuitable means, although the edges must be free, so that the envelopemay be conveniently raised when necessary.

The envelope A is made up of the central section a, of canvas or otherstrong material, which is flexible and which is preferably providedwitha wire warp to make it sufficiently strong, and of an outer and innercoating 0/ of insulating material. Theenvelope is made to approximatelyfit the largest-sized vessels,

and it may then be used for smaller vessels as well, as it is intendedtobe raised up around.

thesides of the vessel, so as to leave a small space between it and thehull, and. at the ends the envelope may be closed up, so as not to leavetoo much space, by means of clamps,

cross-beams, or any suitable devices. The envelope may be made of plainclosely-woven -cloth, such as is used in making cotton or linen hose,audit may be insulated on the out-side only, or the insulation may bedispensed with entirely, although it is better to.

'use it.

The vessel D is sailed into the dock. B above the envelope "and 'islowered so that its keel will reston the timber G, and it is held inplace-by cross-timbers F, extending from the hull of the vessel to thesides of the. dock.

These timbers are provided at their inner ends with thick cushions f ofinsulating material, preferably .of rubber, which thus prevent thevessel from being strained and also prevent the grounding of thecircuit. The

envelope is held in a raised position and is raised and lowered bymeansof rope E, extending over suitable guide-pulle s e,although any otherconvenient means may e used for raising it.

In electroplating a vessel the. negativepole of the dynamo is connectedto the hull ofthe vessel, as shown in'Fig. 2, and the anodes areimmersed in the'bath' which is placed in the envelope. ries of largecopper-linksG, which are hinged The anodes are made up of a se--together at the ends, as shown in'Fig. 3, so

that they, will readilyconform to the shape of the vessel, and atfrequent intervals uponthe links are insulating washers G, which preventthe anodes from contacting with the hull of the vessel or with theenvelope.

The apparatus is used and the vessel electroplated in thet'ollowingmanner: The vessel is floated into the dock and lowered by letting outthe water, so that her-keel will rest 7 upon the timber'G. Thecross-timbersare adjusted, and, if necessary, the vessel may be furthersupported by insulated bilgeblocks. The vessel is then thoroughlyscrubbed and cleaned by workmen let down from the vessels sides onplanks in the usual manner, and

the hull should be almost polished by means of emery disks, wirebrushes, or other suitable devices. The envelope is then raised aroundthe hull of the vessel, the Water is siphoned oft or otherwise withdrawnfrom it, and the envelope is then filled with a pickle, which ispreferably a solution made up of water and sulphuric acid, there beingabout one-half a pound of acid to a gallon of water. The water is letinto the dock at the same time that the pickle is pumped into theenvelope, so that the pressureof the water will make the envelopeconform to the shape of the vessel, and very little pickle will thenanswer to fill the space between the envelope and the hull; and incarrying out this idea it is better that the water he kept slightly inadvance of the pickle, as shown in Fig. 1, so that it will not benecessary to use too large a quantity of the pickle. The envelope isthen alternately pulled taut and relaxed, so as to. keep the acid inmotion, and after a thorough agitation the sides of the envelope arepulled out, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that the sides ofthe. vessel may be scrubbed by workmen, who maybe lowered upon planks inthe usual way. The pickle is then withdrawn and clean water supplied inits stead to thoroughly wash the vessels hull, and the hull should bescrubbed while the. clean water is' being withdrawn in the mannerdescribed above, and the envelope is pulled aside far enough so that allparts of the hull, including the propeller-shaft and the propeller, maybe thoroughly cleaned. The water from the envelope and dock is thenwithdrawn and a copper solution, which is preferably alkaline, is letinto the envelope, and water is let into the dock so that the envelo eand dock will fill up together, as already escribed, and the anodes areplaced in the solution and are made long enough so that they will extendnearly to the keel of the vessel. The hull of the vessel is connectedwith the negative pole of a dynamo, and if the hull is of metal but fewconnections will be needed; but if it is of wood it will be necessary tomake numerous connections, in order that the current'may traverseefliciently through the entire hull. The anodes are placed in positionand the current is turned on while the envelope is being filled with'thesolution, and the sides of the envelope are pulled away in the manneralready described, so that the surface of the hull may be scraped by theworkmen, the scraping being done at the surface of the solution as itflows into the envelope, and this scraping causes a deposit to be maderapidly upon the hull. The current of electricity which isturned on isweak at-first and is gradually increased in strength, and after a fewhours the vessel should be sufficiently coated to resist the corrosiveaction of the ordinary sulphate oath, and after a while the alkalinesolution is withdrawn and the hull examined, and if itis found thatthere are places not sufficiently coated the envelope is again filledwith the alkaline solution, these spots are scraped or scratched, and acurrent of electricity is maintained until the spots are sufficientlycoated. After this the alkaline solution is withdrawn, the envelope isflushed with clean water, which in turn is withdrawn, and the envelopeis then filled with the ordinary sulphate solution. The solution isflowed in in the same manner that the pickle and alkaline solution havebeen, the workmen scraping the vessel at the upper surface of thesolution as it flows in, and an energetic current is maintained untilthe hull is thoroughly plated. When the envelope is emptied of pickle orwater, the worthless material may be run to waste; but the envelope maybe provided with a suction'or draw pipe extending to its lowest part, sothat after the vessel is plated the solution may be drawn back to thetanks from which it was originally taken.

As a general thing, copper would be used in plating a vessel; but it isobvious that it might be plated with other metals without departing fromthe principle of my invention. After the vessel is plated the envelopeis lowered and the vessel is floated from the dock.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- I 1. The hei'eimdescribed process of electroplatingvessels, which consists in docking the vessel, incasing its hull in aflexible envelope,

filling the envelope with a metallic solution,

and making electric connections between the solution and the hull of thevessel, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described process of electroplating vessels, whichconsists in docking the vessel, incasing its hull in a flexibleinsulated envelope, fillingthe envelope with a metallic solution and thedock with water, and electrically connecting the solution and the hullof the vessel, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described process of electroplating vessels, whichconsists in docking the vessel, incasing it in a flexible insulatedenvelope, filling the envelope with an alkaline metallic solution andthe dock with water, passing an electric current through the solutionand the hull of the vessel, removing the alkaline solution and fillingthe envelope with a sulphate solution, and in passing a current throughthe latter and the vessels hull, sub-' stantially as described.

4. The herein-described process of electroplating vessels, whichconsists in docking the vessel, thoroughly cleaning its hull, ineasingits hull in a flexible insulated envelope, fill= ing the envelope withan alkaline metallic solution and the dock with Water, passing anelectric current through the solution and through the hull of thevessel, removing the solution and substituting a sulphate solution, andpassing a current through the latter and the hull, substantially asdescribed.

5. In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination, with adock, of a flexible insulated envelope shaped to fit a vessel and havingits central" bottom portion secured to the dock, and, means for raisingthe 5 envelope, substantially as described.

- 6. In an apparatnsof the character described, the combination, with adock, of a flexible insulated envelope shaped to fit a vessel, a timberextending longitudinally through the envelope'and secured to thedock-bottom '10 and means for raising the envelope, substantially asdescribed. K

ALEXANDER D. BUCHANAN. Witnesses:

WARREN B. HUTdHINsoN, E. M CLARK.

